The Cookie Monster of the Sea?

Yes, it looks like a wacky version of Cookie Monster, but you’re actually looking at a purple sea sponge, unlike any other.

Earlier this year the rare sea sponge was discovered by a scuba diver. The resemblance is purely a coincidence, due to a psychological phenomenon called pareidolia.

Pareidolia causes people to see random images as something more significant than they actually are. In this case, we see a famous muppet. The word is derived from the Greek words para — meaning something faulty or wrong — and the noun eidōlon — meaning image, form or shape.

Here’s some famous examples of seeing things that aren’t actually there:

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